Longchamp Revamp Splits French Racing

An architect’s rendering of the refurbished Jockey Club tribune at Longchamp racecourse in the Bois de Boulogne in Paris.CreditCreditDominique Perrault Architecte/L’Autre Image, via Adagp

By Ryan Goldberg

Oct. 2, 2015

One thing is certain: A week after the 94th edition of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe has been run on Sunday at Longchamp racecourse in Paris, demolition crews will start bringing down the track’s half-century-old grandstand.

But beyond that, little is certain about a project that has divided French racing.

Every year before the Arc, safety inspectors have checked France’s flagship racecourse — a facility that sometimes seems to have more leaks than patrons — and every year they have cleared it. So a decade ago, France Galop, French thoroughbred racing’s national regulatory body, began discussing plans to redo the grandstand, which had been hastily erected in the early ’60s, during boom times.

How exactly the plan will be financed remains unclear. “Most people feel that they don’t have a clue what’s going to happen,” said Emmanuel Roussel, a veteran racing journalist in France.

In addition, critics of the plan question how France Galop — which at the end of last year ran a deficit of 38 million euros, or $42 million, according to its president, Bertrand Bélinguier — can afford it without implementing changes that could tear apart racing.

Since France Galop’s board approved the plan of the French architect Dominique Perrault in 2011, betting turnover has declined 6.5 percent.

Last month, France Galop finally received the go-ahead for its plan from France’s ministers of agriculture and finance. But in return, the government stipulated that France Galop must close another Paris-area racecourse — most likely Maisons-Laffitte or Saint-Cloud — and install a floodlit, all-weather course to allow for night racing at Longchamp. The historic course, which is usually open for only 30 days of racing per year, would almost certainly have to stage more race days.

The cost of these late-hour changes are not included in France Galop’s estimated €131 million budget — a price tag that rose from an original €60 million that was set aside when betting turnover was higher.

Roussel, the racing journalist, maintained that France Galop could afford the project, even if it had to borrow part of the funds. But he suggested that with its deficit, France Galop would have to reduce purse money.

Many owners and breeders oppose the project, fearing it would take money out of their pockets in an already financially challenging endeavor.

Meanwhile, France Galop has disclosed little about the plan to the public. “The public was never told what it would have cost to revamp the existing structure versus a complete rebuilding of it,” Roussel said.

Recently, France Galop released a short film with the architect’s renderings of the new Longchamp. A modern grandstand open to the front and back replaces two current buildings. The grandstand looks like a facility for corporate conventions, which is one possible use of the site when racing is not being held.

Criquette Head-Maarek, the head of the main French trainers’ association, supports the plan, although she doesn’t want to see another Paris-area course closed. “You have to go ahead,” she said. “You can’t always stay with old things. As a trainer, I say Sunday is behind me. You know what I mean? Longchamp needs to be redone properly.”

The new Longchamp fits into France Galop’s larger view of marketing racing: as a sport rather than a form of betting.

“What we want to say is that horse racing is a sport on which you can bet — and that betting can bring you a special experience,” said Jean-Christophe Giletta, France Galop’s director of communication, marketing and development. “But at the beginning it’s sport.”

Giletta sees England’s Royal Ascot as a model in the effort to “modernize” the racecourse experience for “customers,” a term he prefers over bettors. But unlike Ascot, which was rebuilt from 2004 to 2006 at a cost of 185 million pounds, or $280 million, French racecourses until now have charged little for admission and offer few amenities.

Trying to replicate Royal Ascot’s V.I.P. approach — what Giletta calls “segmentation of our customers” — runs counter to French culture, said Gina Rarick, an American trainer in France. “If we were flush,” she said, “let’s build a new Longchamp. But it’s only full one day a year, for the Arc. On any given day, the place is empty.”

Next year, the Arc will be held in Chantilly, before returning to Longchamp in 2017, if the schedule holds. What happens between now and then will forever change French racing. But Bélinguier, the project’s champion, won’t oversee it. He decided not to run for reelection in France Galop’s elections next month. The new president will inherit a demolished grandstand and an unenviable position.

“You have this heavy plan to pay for with money getting scarcer and you will also have to find a way to build a strategy for racing to thrive again — with a population that turns its back on racing with every new year,” Roussel said. “And then you have restless owners and trainers who will yell at you on a daily basis. So, good luck, really.”